Monday, August 10, 2009

Shutting

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge

Picasso's Tomato Plant image is from Pablo Picasso Gallery Paintings(1941-73)Between the third and twelfth days of August 1944 Picasso painted nine pictures of a tomato plant perched on a window sill, all on identically sized canvases Ekphrasis: writing that comments upon another art form, for instance a poem about a photograph or a novel about a film. Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is a prime example of this type of writing, since the entire poem concerns the appearance and meaning of an ancient piece of pottery Ekphrastic Poetry ExamplesHow does one approach this poetry form? Become physically comfortable and committed to a long period of time in front of the art. If possible sit in front of the work and attempt to become one with it. If you have permission, take a photograph of it and carry it with you or prop it in front of your computer, especially for the revision process. Since while writing poetry “it all depends on the questions that you ask,” ask yourself and ask the painting about the movement in the piece. What is going where? Ask about color, light, shape/form, subject/items, geometry/direction/balance, relationship/tension, taste, sound. Is anything here making noise? Is anyone/anything speaking? Can you create dialogue? Monologue? If you can’t take a photo of a museum piece, try a “naive poet’s sketch” of the piece just to remind yourself of the elements of the painting, its flow, and relationship of the subjects. Elastic Ekphrastic; Another Way Toward Poetry

Should you accept this challenge E-mail me OR add your poem at COMMENTS

TomatoPablo knew that was one ugly pot.Broken, pieced together from one, two, threeDifferent shards, bright shining piecesFashioned together with dull, with red,With white from birth, a hand held enoughSoil to cover its bottom, to cover a seedSo tiny it was amazing the crop. A green, then red crop, a child to mature adult.Pasta was on his mind, pasta covered rich and thick,Red sauce clotted with ripeness, basil and onion,Sweet peppers, olive oil dripping rich from hot buns.Pablo knew, it begged for wine.--Donald Rhodes; South Carolina

The EternalIn the tomato plantIn a broken pot Picasso scores the Shades of four seasons, In a single canvas The brushstrokesIn blue and yellowHides a sky and sunNurturing the plant for Time eternal--Devika Jyothi; New Delhi,IN